Happy Valentine's, Dude
by thisgildedworld
Summary: Jude sets out on leaving a Valentine's Day gift for that special someone in the gang... but just who is his secret crush?
1. Part I

**PART ONE**

* * *

It was Valentine's and the mall was filled with the signs of Hallmark Love. No matter where you turned and looked you were sure to find some sort of red or pink decoration and a lot of hearts. For the people in the mall this was hardly a bother to them, as everyone and anyone seemed caught up in the romance.

Most of all, Jude.

While Jude was normally not one to care for this so-called "holiday", he found this year to be something different. He hadn't told anyone in the gang yet, but, he had a crush on someone. None of them really expected much from him though, since normally he was interested in little else than his skateboard and whatever other shenanigans he was getting into with the other guys. However, he was at a loss. He had no idea how to approach this looming holiday and his feelings that were festering inside of him.

Which was why he was barely listening to the conversation that was going on at the Lemon. His chin rested against the table, eyes blurring as he continued to go over the possible scenarios in his mind over and over again.

"So what are you guys doing for Valentine's day?" he heard someone ask. He looked up from his spot toward Wyatt who was answering the question.

"I actually have a date this year," he was saying before he took a sip of his coffee. "You guys haven't met her yet though."

"Who is it?" Jen asked excitedly.

"Rene, she's the newest clerk at Spin This," Wyatt explained. The boy's eyes lowered slightly to the seemingly sedated blond boy sitting next to him. "Uh, Jude? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, you look really down, Jude," Caitlin peeped from the Lemon. "Is something wrong?"

"Guys...," Jude began, sitting up in his chair, "I think I'm in... _love_!"

He said it with such distress that, for a minute, the gang had to keep from getting giddy at the prospect of seeing Jude together with a new crush. Clearly, this was something more than just that.

"Jude, that's great," Jen said.

"I know."

"So, what's wrong?"

Jude bit his lip slightly, not knowing how to exactly explain this to his friends. "I don't really know what to do about it," he said, attempting to avoid all conversations about who his prospective love was.

"Jude~!" Caitlin squeaked excitedly from the Lemon. "That is so cute! I can help you, I am a master at all things crush-related. I'll help you tell her how you feel! Trust me, I have magazine credentials." She held up the latest Teen Magazine with much gusto. She immediately began flipping through the magazine, heading directly to the crush advice section.

"Eh... I don't know, Caitlin," Jude began, "I just kinda... I 'unno. I want to forget."

"I hear you, dude," Jonesy said, leaning back in his chair, "the chicks can be great most of the time, but on days like this, they just go crazy!" He flailed his arms in the air to emphasize his point.

"I guess with Nikki out of town you don't have any plans for tonight, huh?" Jen asked.

"None, except maybe watching Wyatt tank on his date."

"Hey!" Wyatt whined.

Jonesy smirked. His eyes lowered onto his friend who, once again, was resting his chin against the food court table. "Hey Jude," he said, watching as the boy's eyes perked up slightly, "if your whole crush thing backfires or whatever, want to sleepover at my house? We could have an anti-Valentine's day party. I just got the brand new Rock Band game. You, me, Diego and Robbie could kick some serious ass."

"Oooh, that sounds like fun!" Caitlin said as she poured a glass of lemonade for a customer.

"Sorry, Caitlin. No chicks, just us guys," Jonesy grinned.

"That's okay, I have a date anyway. You guys know Brian? He works at Belts, Belts, Belts. We're going out tonight. I know it might be soon, but I really think he may be th—."

"The One?" Jude muttered, his voice echoing in melancholy.

"Aw, Jude. You sure you're okay?"

"I think I'm going to go get some grindage. Catch ya later, guys," Jude said getting out from his chair and skateboarding off. Once he was gone the remaining members of the gang turned and looked each other somewhat worriedly.

"He must really be in love," Jen muttered, "I hope he'll be okay."

"He'll be fine," Jonesy muttered dismissively with a wave of his hand.

"How can you say that? Did you even see him just now? He's totally in love!"

"Who do you guys think it is?" Caitlin wondered as she flipped the page in her magazine. "Do you think it's Starr?"

"Nah," Wyatt said shaking his head, "that can't be it. They've been broken up for months now."

"Well, who is it then?" Jen piped. "Jonesy! You're going to find out tonight right?"

"Sure, I can try. I better go though, I've been on my coffee break for the past hour," Jonesy said as he left the table.

Jen shook her head. Why weren't the guys more curious about this new crush of Jude's? It was clearly bothering him, and the fact that it was bothering him meant that it was bothering her. "Caitlin," Jen began.

"I'll keep you posted," Caitlin answered, knowing what Jen was about to say.

"Great, I'll text you later. See ya."

Wyatt watched Jen leave the table and head back to the Penalty Box with a raised eyebrow. "How come all girls seem to have some sort of telepathic link?" Caitlin shrugged her shoulders, mumbling something about it being a 'gift'. "If you say so," Wyatt remarked submissively.

Jude sat at the fountain. He was gloomily munching down on fry after fry as he pushed his skateboard back and forth with his foot. As he sat there, he thought back to the time where he and Starr had agreed to go out after watching Stanley fall into the fountain. That was a long time ago though, and now she was "Nebula". His current crush felt a lot worse than the one he had for her back then, which was probably why he had no idea what to do about it.

The truth was he hasn't felt anything like this before, and no matter how hard he had tried, he couldn't get the feeling to go away. He was in love with one of his best friends, and while that was bad enough he knew that _who_ it was made it even worse. They couldn't be together, he knew that, but... did that mean he shouldn't even mention it?

"Whoa," Jude muttered as his phone vibrated in his pocket. He reached in and flipped it open, not even checking to see who it was. "Yo?"

"Hey Jude, it's me." It was Nikki.

"Oh hey, bra."

"Jen texted me saying you were kinda down, so I was just calling to check in on you. You okay?"

"No, not really, bra," he answered truthfully. "I'm kind of... in love."

"Oh yeah?"

"And the worst part is, it's one of us!" He flung his arms up dramatically, showering the elderly couple behind him in French fries. "Hehe, sorry...," he said sheepishly.

"You're not going to tell me who, are you?"

"Nuh-uh."

Nikki sighed slightly. "Well Jude, I think you should be honest with them. You never know what might happen, I mean, look at me and Jonesy."

"I don't think that could ever happen," Jude muttered.

"Well, you never know, so, don't give up. You might be surprised. I have to go though, but, let me know how it all works out, alright?"

"Alright."

The two of them said their goodbyes and Jude snapped his phone shut. He sat there for a moment, mulling over what it was that he should do next. Although it was the most difficult route to take, he believed that Nikki was right. He needed to tell them... but how?

Caitlin was still nose-deep in her many teen magazines, hoping to find a gem among them that would better her understanding of Jude's situation. Of all the ways to tell your crush how you feel, there weren't that many that were really Valentine's specific surprisingly.

"I knew I should have picked up the special V-Day issue when I had the chance," she grumbled to herself. She looked up briefly from her magazine to see if there were any customers, but instead found Jude hiding on the other side of the mag. "Oh, Jude!"

"Caitlin... I need help telling someone how I feel about them... and stuff."

Caitlin clapped her hands together, dropping the magazine into the blender accidentally. "Hee hee! Jude~! You came to the right place, I can definitely help you tell her how you feel."

"I don't think I can tell them in person, bra..."

"No worries! Gifts left from a secret admirer are _so_ in right now. I can help you get the perfect gift, C'mon, let's go."

Caitlin shut the Lemon down and grabbed Jude by the wrist, taking him to the nearest candy store. "What kind of stuff does this girl like?"

Jude shrugged his shoulders. "I 'unno."

"Well, you can never go wrong with chocolate. Simple rule of girls: we all like chocolate." Caitlin held her finger up matter-of-factly. "Still not going to tell me who she is?" Jude shook his head.

"I think it's better if I told them myself first, y'know?"

"Aww, that's so cute, Jude. Well, definitely go with the chocolate then, you can't go wrong, promise."

Jude looked at the heart-shaped box of chocolates questioningly. He simply shrugged shoulders once more and paid for the chocolates. "Thanks, Cate," Jude said with a weak smile.

"I'm sure whoever she is, she's perfect for you Jude." Caitlin looked down at her watch. "Aw, shoot! I have to go get ready for my date. I'll see you later!"

Jude watched Caitlin leave, and once she had, he returned to their table in the food court to leave the chocolates for his crush. "I sure hope this works," he said to himself.

Wyatt and Jonesy were heading to the food court, talking amongst themselves. Jonesy was giving Wyatt some tips on his date that night, assuming of course that he didn't screw it up.

"I'm telling you, Wyatt, play your cards right and you might just get a homerun tonight."

"Jonesy, I'm barely even in the stadium at this point, it's our first date!"

"First date, pfft. That didn't stop me from scoring with two chicks in one night once!"

"And you actually went all the way with them?"

"Well, no, but, you get the picture. Anything could happen—hey where is everyone?"

Their table was empty and the Lemon was closed. The two guys shrugged their shoulders and sat down in their respective chairs.

"Hey, there's something in my chair," Wyatt grumbled as he pulled up a heart-shaped box of chocolate. He stared at it curiously for a long moment before reading the tag on the box. "Uh, Jonesy... it's for you."

Wyatt slid the box of chocolates across the table to his friend who looked at it just as curiously as the other one had.

"But Nikki's out of town... See what I mean, Wyatt? Play it right, and all the girls would be leaving you candy, taken or not!"

"Uh, Jonesy, I don't think that's from a girl..."

"What?!" Jonesy looked at the tag, his eyes widening... "Dude... it's from _Jude_!"


	2. Part II

**PART TWO**

* * *

"What are you going to do, Jonesy?"

Jonesy's eyes were still wide and plastered to the name tag he saw in front of him. It was almost like he walked in on his grandmother naked or something that was how shocked and bemused he was at that moment. But there was no mistaking it: that was Jude's handwriting. He could recognize those scribbles anywhere.

It was Jude's handwriting on a tag on a box of chocolate on Valentine's Day and it was addressed to him—Jonesy.

Jonesy was still having a hard time processing just what that meant. He had tried to file that into his brain repeatedly over the past few minutes but it just kept coming out as gibberish to him.

Jude. His best friend. His best friend since kindergarten. His best friend since kindergarten that he's kissed before. His best friend since kindergarten that he's kissed before and that now has a crush on him.

"Dude...," was all that Jonesy could say, and it left his voice so dull and shell-shocked that he almost thought someone else had said it to him.

"What're you going to do about tonight?" Wyatt repeated, his eyes filled with concern: constantly darting from his friend to the box of chocolate that lay on the table tauntingly.

"Forget about tonight, man," Jonesy said throwing his arms into the air, "what am I going to do about the rest of my life?!"

"I think you might be overreacting," Wyatt commented, taking a sip of his coffee.

"Am I? Think about it, this is Jude we're talking about, and he has a crush—on me! **ME**."

"Maybe it won't be so bad...?" Even as he said it, Wyatt knew that would have no bearing on Jonesy. This was definitely a tricky situation and even he had no idea what to do about it. A small part of him was almost glad he had a date tonight; otherwise he was sure he'd be caught up in the mess as well.

"But I'm not gay!" Jonesy said his arms up in the air once more, nearly falling off his chair in the process.

"I didn't mean it like that," Wyatt replied, pausing only to think of his next attempt at piss-poor advice, "maybe just... let Jude down easy?"

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?"

The two of them looked over to find Caitlin and Jen approaching the table, shopping bags hanging from their wrists. Caitlin was wearing a nice fitting pink dress for her date. Jonesy's eyes were still just as wide as before, and his mouth was open in the astonishment over the entire Jude fiasco.

For a moment, Caitlin thought the jaw dropping was for her.

"Oh, you like it? It's for my date with Brian tonight," she said, clapping her hands together gleefully.

"Is something wrong, Jonesy" Jen asked as she dropped the bags onto the table, the contents nearly spilling out altogether. Her eyebrow was peaked as she watched the stone-faced boy in front of her, and then suddenly, his arms were in the air again and he was exclaiming loudly:

"The gang as we know it is over! **_LIFE_** as we know it is over!"

Jen and Caitlin exchanged confused expressions, before turning to the boys again and saying, practically in unison, an all encompassing, "What?"

"Jude!" Jonesy exclaimed, as if that was all that needed to be said about the matter for everyone involved to understand coherently. It wasn't.

Jen turned to Wyatt who was shaking his head slightly. "Uh, Wyatt?"

Wyatt took a deep breath. "Jonesy found out that Jude has a crush on him."

"What?!" Jen and Caitlin said in unison again.

"Yeah, Jude left this for him," Wyatt said, pushing the chocolates over to the girl's side of the table.

"Oh, the chocolates," Caitlin said, her voice almost sorrowful as she looked down at the candy that she had helped Jude pick out. She and Jen sat down at the table, looking at the tag together in silence for a while, almost as if they were communicating telepathically a bunch of possible plans to deal with the situation.

Wyatt and Jonesy watched on eagerly, waiting for the big reveal of how they were supposed to go about dealing with this situation.

"So, what are you going to do, Jonesy?" Jen finally said breaking the silence.

Jonesy nearly fell out of his chair in dismay. Regaining his composure he yelled, "I thought you were going to tell me!"

"I really don't know what to do," she replied, sinking back slightly into her chair. "I mean, it's Jude. He's our best friend. I don't want him to get h—."

"You think I want to hurt him?!" Jonesy interrupted defiantly.

"No," she said sternly, "I just mean. We have to come up with some kind of plan..."

"You're telling me," Jonesy said, crossing his arms and looking away from the group. His mind still couldn't wrap around it, even though they had been talking about the very thing for a while now. How could Jude like him? _Him_ , of all people. Never mind that, how could Jude like _any_ guys? Jude was straight after all! How else would you explain that whole thing with Starr?

"Wyatt, maybe you should go to the sleep over with them? It might... defuse awkward tension until we can figure out a better plan of action," Jen suggested.

"I can't, I have a date tonight."

"Come on, man! You can't leave me alone with him!"

"It's Jude; you guys have hung out alone before."

"Yeah, but that was _before_ ," Jonesy said, adding an immense amount of emphasis on the last word before pleading once more, "Come on! You can get turned down by a girl any day of the year!"

Wyatt's eyes narrowed. "Sorry, Jonesy."

"Oh man!" Jonesy cried, his arms dropping by his side. He let his head fall, knocking it hard against the table, as he stared at nothing but darkness. This was turning out to be one of the worst Valentine's Days ever.

"It'll be fine, Jonesy," Caitlin said, talking for the first time in a long while, "Just let him down easy. Things will be okay."

"But it's Valentine's Day!" he yelled, his voice being muffled slightly by the table. "It's like national hook-up day."

"You don't have to _do do_ just want to be friends!" he yelled against the table's most likely unsanitary top.

"Right...," Caitlin said, placing her magazine down on the table, "I think this might be a problem not even the Magazine Gods can answer."

Jonesy knew then, as if he didn't know already, that this meant it was serious. Caitlin never admitted the Gods of Teen Advice Magazines could be wrong, but here it was. Everything was already changing, and it stung Jonesy to even think about it.

"Why is your head like that, dude?"

Jonesy shot straight up in his spot, eyes wide. "Uh, nuh-no reason." He could feel his heart bouncing around his chest like it was on Speed as he looked up at Jude's confused blue eyes. In that moment, he felt like everyone's eyes were on him _especially_ Jude's.

Jen took advantage of this opportunity and shoved Jude's chocolates into one of her many bags. Jude was too busy with his own thrashing heart to have noticed the chocolates were ever there at all, and for a moment there was nothing but silence.

"So, Jude, excited for your guy's night?" Jen asked, displaying that normal sense of pep that was always with her. She figured it was best to play it cool, like none of them knew anything about anything. All she could do was pray that she wasn't completely obvious.

"Yeah, I guess...," Jude said solemnly, plunking down into his own seat at the table. He looked briefly around the area for the chocolates he had left for Jonesy, only to see that they were nowhere in sight. Figuring someone had stolen them and that none of his friends had seen who it was for, he released a sigh of relief. He had been fretting over the chocolates ever since he left them and now he didn't have to worry about it. He could just enjoy a night with Jonesy like nothing had happened.

Jonesy couldn't though.

"Oh, shoot, I better go. Brian said he'd meet me at the fountain for our date!" Caitlin squeaked excitedly. She stopped mid-way from getting up from her chair, her eyes darting toward the two boys momentarily. "Hope you guys... have a good night," she said, trying her best to sound nonchalant and supportive at the same time.

"G'luck on your date," Jude smiled weakly.

"You too—I mean,"—Caitlin turned pink—"have fun..."

"Fill me in on the deets," Jen said to her as she left with a grin. Caitlin nodded and with that she was off.

"Actually, I should probably get going too," Wyatt said, excusing himself from the table, and the situation. They said their goodbyes and soon it was just down to the three of them.

"So... when are you guys going to...," she paused, trying to think of the proper way to end the sentence, "go."

Jonesy's eyes narrowed. "I'm in no rush," he said crossing his arms.

"The mall's closing in half an hour...," Jude added.

Jonesy kept his stance for a full minute longer before finally breaking. " _Fine_ , Jude. Let's go. See ya, Jen."

"See ya," she said—her voice cautious. As she watched the two leave the food court she couldn't help but get a sick feeling in her stomach. She definitely needed to talk with Nikki about all of this.

"Get out!" Jonesy yelled.

He pushed his brothers out of his room, shutting the door behind them with a slam. In his hands was a bag of popcorn (they were out of popcorn bowls, so he opted for large paper bags... classy). As he shut the door, finally ridding them of Diego and Robbie he leaned against the wood. He shook his head slightly.

"What, you guys going to make out or something? C'mon man!" Deigo yelled from beyond the door, turning Jonesy pink in the face.

"Nuh-no, we just want some privacy okay?!"

"Yeah, for gay sex," Robbie added.

"Can it you twerp," Jonesy called back.

He waited a minute before they had left the hallway outside of his door before turning to his blond friend who was sitting on his bed. Jonesy was flustered but as he looked at Jude, sure that he could understand why, the boy simply blinked at him.

"Got some grindage?" the boy finally said.

Jonesy blinked.

"Uh, yeah. Popcorn," he said, "we're out of bowls, so..."

"No worries, dude," Jude replied, motioning for Jonesy to bring the food, and himself, over to the bed. The other boy sat down beside his friend, keeping the bag absentmindedly on his lap as he stared off at his DVD collection on the other side of the room, trying to figure out what would be the best distraction.

It was then, while he was deep in distractions of his own, that Jude reached into the bag of popcorn. Trying to grab a large enough handful to sustain him momentarily, he dug deep into the bag and, consequently, rubbed against Jonesy's crotch. The boy shot straight up, the popcorn nearly flying out of his lap. If it weren't for Jude's hand still deep in the bag, its contents would have scattered across the room.

Jonesy managed to make his sudden startled jump seem like nothing more but an overly enthusiastic dash to the DVDs as he was quickly on the other side of the room pretending to pick through the collection.

 _Holy_ , he thought to himself, trying to comprehend what just happened. _Was Jude just... grinding me... through a popcorn bag?!_

"Dude, are you alright?"

"Ye-yeah, Jude," Jonesy lied, "juh-just excited to start the movie."

Jude's face contorted into one of confusion as Jonesy popped a DVD into the player and pressed play. He dimmed the lights and, somewhat cautiously, joined Jude back on the bed, rejecting popcorn when offered. The two of them sat together on his bed, watching the movie Jonesy had picked.

He had picked it because he wanted to be distracted from what was going on but all he could think about was what was going on! Not even the gore of _300_ could take his mind off it; in fact, all it did was cement his mind to the idea of Jude liking guys. During the entire battle scene, all Jonesy could think about was whether or not Jude was turned on by all the bare male chests and package highlighting costumes. It was driving Jonesy crazy the entire movie.

Jude on the other hand thought the gory battles were pretty kickass.

When the movie ended, it was getting rather late and both of the boys were pretty tired, though, for completely different reasons. Jude stifled a yawn as he stretched his legs out on the bed the two of them would be sharing that night. "You want to,"—he paused to yawn—"play some RockBand or something?"

"Nah," Jonesy said, honestly too nervous to even think about spending more waking hours with Jude in this awkward-as-hell situation. "Let's just kick it, call it a day."

"Mmkay," Jude mumbled as he pulled off his shirt. He tossed it aside on the floor by the bed, and then undid his pants, kicking them off as well. He lay there, stretched out on top of the bed's covers in nothing but his boxers, looking completely innocuous despite this fact.

"Dude! What are you doing?" Jonesy said, turning his eyes away from the boy, as if he was covered in sick boils or something.

"What?" the boy replied, confused. "We always sleep in our boxers."

"I know, but...," Jonesy began only to stop. He was going to say _but this is different_ but he realized how much that would probably hurt his friend, and if there was something he agreed on with the girls earlier, it was that the very last thing he wanted to do was hurt Jude.

"Do you... want me to get dressed?"

His voice sounded so confused, so lost, almost as if he was expecting that he did something wrong, even though he had no idea what it was. And it was that tone, that sound that gave Jonesy a sick feeling in his stomach, like he was the one who did something terribly wrong. He didn't know why he was letting this go on, when he should have just addressed Jude's feelings right away. But he was scared, scared of ruining what they had.

"No, don't worry about it," Jonesy said, and then, as if to prove it didn't matter, he too pulled off his shirt and pants, wearing nothing but a thin pair of boxers. He flashed Jude a weak smile, who still only looked confused.

And there was that feeling again; the one that felt like he swallowed a cinderblock and it was just resting in his stomach, uncomfortably.

The two boys got under the covers. Without though, Jude was lying rather close to Jonesy, their skin lightly touching one another, causing shocks to run through Jonesy's skin. They had always slept like this during their past sleepovers, but for some reason, only now did it feel weird.

"Jude, can you give me some space?" Jonesy said, it coming out harsher than he had wanted to. The boy was looking at his friends eyes as he said it, and the minute the words left his lips he could see them register on Jude's face. The blond boy's eyes looked hurt, confused, and lost, like he was a dog Jonesy had just decided to drop kick. It was painful to see, and even more painful to know that he was the cause of it all.

He had made a grave mistake leaving things unresolved.

Jude, however, reluctantly moved as far away from Jonesy on the bed as he could, even turning on his side so his back was facing his friend. The blond boy didn't know what he had expected, he thought that without the chocolates having been found that things would be normal but, for some reason, they weren't and he couldn't understand why.

"Jude," Jonesy began, in almost a whisper, "I know."

Jude said nothing.

"I know that you... like me."

Jonesy was scared for this moment. Scared for what would come next, for what it meant for him, and Jude and the rest of the gang. Something like this could so easily turn into a giant mess, and that was the last thing Jonesy would ever want. He just knew they couldn't keep going on like this. They needed to address it, no matter the circumstance.

"I found the chocolates," Jonesy explained. "I—I—uh—I didn't want to tell you. Because I... Everything felt like it was changing, and I didn't want to admit it, but I'm... scared. I don't want to lose you, Jude. You're my best friend."

Jude said nothing.

"I can't—we can't—I'm... I'm with Nikki... I would never want to wreck our friendship, Jude. You mean a lot to me, _a lot_ , man. You're my best friend. I just... don't know what to do anymore. I wish things would just...," Jonesy stopped, thinking that wouldn't help anything.

Jude said nothing.

"Jude? Say something?" Jonesy pleaded. His heart was racing, thumping, thrashing, anything just to be heard. He knew it, he had crushed his friend's heart, destroyed it even. There would be no going back. This was the end of everything. Wasn't it? Jude was ignoring him. He probably hated his guts. Never wanted to see him again. Jonesy could feel his eyes beginning to well up, tears forming along the edges, threaten to break through. "Jude... please... talk to m—."

Jonesy was cut off by Jude hugging his naked chest. The blond boy's face was buried against the other boy, wet tears landing on the Hispanic's skin. He was shaking slightly, as muffled sobs left his lips.

"I'm sorry, Jonesy," the blond boy said through his tears.

"It's okay, Jude," Jonesy whispered, awkwardly patting the blond boy's head, holding back from crying himself as all of that fear, all of that dread, left him completely.

 _"It's okay."_


End file.
